EP2500403A1 - Method for operating plant for producing mixed-gas hydrate - Google Patents
Method for operating plant for producing mixed-gas hydrate Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP2500403A1 EP2500403A1 EP10829939A EP10829939A EP2500403A1 EP 2500403 A1 EP2500403 A1 EP 2500403A1 EP 10829939 A EP10829939 A EP 10829939A EP 10829939 A EP10829939 A EP 10829939A EP 2500403 A1 EP2500403 A1 EP 2500403A1
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- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- gas
- gas hydrate
- gas phase
- pipe
- mixed
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- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10L—FUELS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NATURAL GAS; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS OBTAINED BY PROCESSES NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C10G, C10K; LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS; ADDING MATERIALS TO FUELS OR FIRES TO REDUCE SMOKE OR UNDESIRABLE DEPOSITS OR TO FACILITATE SOOT REMOVAL; FIRELIGHTERS
- C10L3/00—Gaseous fuels; Natural gas; Synthetic natural gas obtained by processes not covered by subclass C10G, C10K; Liquefied petroleum gas
- C10L3/06—Natural gas; Synthetic natural gas obtained by processes not covered by C10G, C10K3/02 or C10K3/04
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10L—FUELS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NATURAL GAS; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS OBTAINED BY PROCESSES NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C10G, C10K; LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS; ADDING MATERIALS TO FUELS OR FIRES TO REDUCE SMOKE OR UNDESIRABLE DEPOSITS OR TO FACILITATE SOOT REMOVAL; FIRELIGHTERS
- C10L3/00—Gaseous fuels; Natural gas; Synthetic natural gas obtained by processes not covered by subclass C10G, C10K; Liquefied petroleum gas
- C10L3/06—Natural gas; Synthetic natural gas obtained by processes not covered by C10G, C10K3/02 or C10K3/04
- C10L3/10—Working-up natural gas or synthetic natural gas
- C10L3/108—Production of gas hydrates
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F17—STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS
- F17C—VESSELS FOR CONTAINING OR STORING COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED OR SOLIDIFIED GASES; FIXED-CAPACITY GAS-HOLDERS; FILLING VESSELS WITH, OR DISCHARGING FROM VESSELS, COMPRESSED, LIQUEFIED, OR SOLIDIFIED GASES
- F17C11/00—Use of gas-solvents or gas-sorbents in vessels
- F17C11/007—Use of gas-solvents or gas-sorbents in vessels for hydrocarbon gases, such as methane or natural gas, propane, butane or mixtures thereof [LPG]
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a method for operating a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate by reaction between a mixed gas and water.
- an additional gas hydrate may be generated from heavy components (ethane, propane, butane, and the like) contained in the composition. This may result in an operation trouble such as transferring failure in some cases.
- Patent Document 2 is known.
- this invention requires a large-scale auxiliary facility for adjustment of a mixed gas supplied to a generation tank by dilution with a main component of the mixed gas, that is, requires a large-scale auxiliary facility including the control system. Further, the adjustment to the equilibrium composition is difficult under the generation conditions, and there are still problems such as that a gas hydrate may be generated in the downstream facilities.
- An object of the present invention is to simplify a plant without dilution facilities of a raw-material gas, and to provide a method for operating a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate, the method being capable of stabilizing the operation by making the gas phases within downstream steps have the same equilibrium composition as the gas phase of within a generation step.
- the present invention is characterized by including circulating a gas phase of a mixed-gas hydrate generation step to a gas phase within a downstream step located downstream of the mixed-gas hydrate generation step to thereby make the gas phase within each step have the same equilibrium composition as that of the gas phase within the generation step.
- the present invention is characterized in that the downstream step is a dewatering step.
- the present invention is characterized in that the downstream step includes a dewatering step, and a molding step, and a cooling step.
- the gas phase within the mixed-gas hydrate generation step is circulated to the gas phase within the downstream step located downstream of the mixed-gas hydrate generation step, and the gas phase within each step is thereby made to have the same equilibrium composition as that of the gas phase within the generation step. Accordingly, generation of an additional mixed-gas hydrate is suppressed in a physical dewatering facility and a transferring facility provided downstream of the generation step. This makes it possible in advance to eliminate likelihood of occurrence of operation troubles such as clogging and malfunction of equipment attributed to the generation of a mixed-gas hydrate. Moreover, a diluting facility for a raw-material gas as in conventional inventions is no longer necessary, and simplification of the plant is achieved.
- a basic plant A for producing a mixed-gas hydrate according to the present invention includes a gas hydrate generation tank 1 and a dewatering tower 2.
- a gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with a gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2 through a first pipe 25a.
- the gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2 communicates with the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through a second pipe 30a, a blower 51, and a circulation pipe 52.
- a solid-liquid part 1b of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with a solid-liquid part 2b of the dewatering tower 2 through a fifth pipe 25b.
- the solid-liquid part 2b of the dewatering tower 2 communicates with a facility for the subsequent process through a sixth pipe 30b.
- the gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 and a raw-material-water supplying pipe 8, and also includes a stirrer (unillustrated) for stirring the solid-liquid phase.
- a mixed gas for example, natural gas g
- supplied into the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through the raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 is reacted with water w supplied through the raw-material-water supplying pipe 8 to thereby form a natural gas hydrate.
- the natural gas hydrate in the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is supplied to the dewatering tower 2 together with water w for dewatering.
- the dewatered natural gas hydrate h is drawn out to the facility for the subsequent process through the sixth pipe 30b.
- the gas phase within the gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2 has the same equilibrium composition as the gas phase (unreacted gas) within the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1. Accordingly, generation of an additional gas hydrate is suppressed in the downstream facilities such as the dewatering tower 2. This suppresses operation troubles such as clogging and malfunction of the equipment.
- a plant A' for producing a mixed-gas hydrate according to the present invention includes a gas hydrate generation tank 1, a dewatering tower 2, a pelletizer 3, and a pellet cooling tank 4.
- a gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with a gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2 through a first pipe 25a.
- the gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2 communicates with a gas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3 through a second pipe 30a.
- the gas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3 communicates with a gas phase part 4a of the pellet cooling tank 4 through a third pipe 34a.
- the gas phase part 4a of the pellet cooling tank 4 communicates with the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through a fourth pipe 43a, a blower 51, and a circulation pipe 52.
- a solid-liquid part 1b of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with a solid-liquid part 2b of the dewatering tower 2 through a fifth pipe 25b.
- the solid-liquid part 2b of the dewatering tower 2 communicates with a solid-liquid part 3b of the pelletizer 3 through a sixth pipe 30b.
- the solid-liquid part 3b of the pelletizer 3 communicates with a solid-liquid part 4b of the pellet cooling tank 4 through a seventh pipe 34b.
- the solid-liquid part 4b of the pellet cooling tank 4 communicates with a facility for the subsequent process through an eighth pipe 43b.
- the gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 and a raw-material-water supplying pipe 8, and also includes a stirrer (unillustrated) for stirring the solid-liquid phase.
- a mixed gas for example, natural gas g
- supplied into the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through the raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 is reacted with water w supplied through the raw-material-water supplying pipe 8 to thereby form a natural gas hydrate.
- the natural gas hydrate in the gas hydrate generation tank is supplied to the dewatering tower 2 together with water w for dewatering.
- the dewatered natural gas hydrate is supplied to the pelletizer 3 through the sixth pipe 30b, and molded into pellets in predetermined shape and size.
- the pellets are supplied to the pellet cooling tank 4 through the seventh pipe 34b, and cooled to a predetermined temperature. The pellets thus cooled are drawn out to the facility for the subsequent process through the eighth pipe 43b.
- driving the blower 51 forces an unreacted gas in the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 to circulate from the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through the first pipe 25a, the gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2, the second pipe 30a, the gas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3, the third pipe 34a, the gas phase part 4a of the pellet cooling tank 4, the fourth pipe 43a, the blower 51, and the circulation pipe 52 to the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1.
- the gas phases within the gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2, the gas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3, and the gas phase part 4a of the pellet cooling tank 4 have the same equilibrium composition as the gas phase (unreacted gas) within the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1. Accordingly, generation of an additional gas hydrate is suppressed in the downstream facilities such as the dewatering tower 2, the pelletizer 3, and the pellet cooling tank 4. This suppresses operation troubles such as clogging and malfunction of the equipment.
- a plant A" for producing a mixed-gas hydrate of the present invention includes a gas hydrate generation tank 1, a dewatering tower 2, a pelletizer 3, a pellet cooling tank 4, a pellet storage tank 5, and a depressurizing device 6.
- the gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a stirrer 12, and also includes a gas-jetting nozzle 13 below the stirrer 12.
- the gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 and a raw-material-water supplying pipe 8 at a top portion 11a thereof.
- the raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 includes a flow-amount adjusting valve 9, and the raw-material-water supplying pipe 8 includes a valve 10.
- the gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a gas-circulation path 14 through which the top portion 11a communicates with the gas-jetting nozzle 13.
- An unreacted gas g' in a gas phase part 1a is supplied to the gas-jetting nozzle 13 by a first blower 15, and cooled to a predetermined temperature by a first cooler 16.
- the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with a gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2 through a first pipe 25a.
- a bottom portion 11b of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with a bottom portion 21a of the dewatering tower 2 through a fifth pipe (slurry supplying pipe) 25b including a slurry pump 24.
- a slurry circulation path 26 branched from the slurry supplying pipe 25b is connected to a side surface of the gas hydrate generation tank 1.
- the slurry circulation path 26 includes a second slurry pump 27 and a second cooler 28, and cools a slurry s passing through the slurry circulation path 26.
- the dewatering tower 2 includes a vertical cylindrical tower body 21, a hollow drainage part 22 provided concentrically to and outside the tower body 21, and a screen 23 provided in the tower body portion facing the drainage part 22.
- the drainage part 22 communicates with the slurry circulation path 26 through a drainage pipe 29.
- the dewatering tower 2 supplies a dewatered gas hydrate n to the pelletizer 3 through a sixth pipe (screw feeder) 30b.
- the gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2 and a gas phase part 2a of the drainage part 22 communicate with a gas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3 through second pipes 30a.
- the pelletizer 3 is a high-pressure pelletizer in which a pair of briquetting rolls 32, 32 are provided in a pressure-tolerable container 31.
- the pelletizer 3 forms pellets p in a predetermined shape (for example, lens shape, almond shape, pillow shape, or the like) from a powdery gas hydrate.
- the gas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3 communicates with a gas phase part 4a of the pellet cooling tank 4 through a third pipe 34a.
- a lower end portion of the pelletizer 3 is connected to an upper end portion of the pellet cooling tank 4 through a seventh pipe (pellet discharging duct) 34b.
- the pellet cooling tank 4 includes a hopper-shaped hollow container 41 and a cooling jacket 42 provided outside the hollow container 41.
- the cooling jacket 42 cools the pellets p in the hollow container 41.
- the pellet cooling tank 4 is connected to the top portion 11a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through a fourth pipe 43a and a circulation pipe 52 including a second blower 51.
- the depressurizing device 6 is provided in a middle portion of an eighth pipe (duct) 43b through which a lower end portion of the pellet cooling tank 4 communicates with an upper end portion of the pellet storage tank 5.
- the depressurizing device 6 includes an upper valve 62 on an upper portion of a cylindrical container 61 and a lower valve 63 on a lower portion of the cylindrical container 61.
- water w in the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is cooled to a predetermined temperature (for example, 3°C) by driving the second slurry pump 27 and the second cooler 28 provided in the slurry circulation path 26.
- a mixed gas for example, natural gas g
- a predetermined pressure for example, 5 MPa
- the unreacted gas g' in the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is supplied to the gas-jetting nozzle 13 by driving the first blower 15 and the first cooler 16 provided in the gas-circulation path 14.
- the natural gas g supplied to the gas-jetting nozzle 13 is jetted as numerous fine bubbles into the water w, and then stirred with the stirrer 12. Accordingly, the natural gas g and the water w are subjected to hydration reaction to form a natural gas hydrate.
- the composition of the natural gas is: 86.88% of methane, 5.20% of ethane, 1.86% of propane, 0.42% of i-butane, 0.47% of n-butane, 0.15% of i-pentane, of 0.08% of n-pentane, 1% of carbon dioxide, and so forth.
- the heavy parts such as ethane and propane are likely to react with water, the gas phase within the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is rich in methane.
- the natural gas hydrate with the water w forms a slurry s, which is supplied to the bottom portion 21a of the dewatering tower 2 by the slurry pump 24.
- the gas hydrate n dewatered by the dewatering tower 2 is supplied to the pelletizer 3 from an upper portion of the dewatering tower 2 through the sixth pipe (screw feeder) 30b, and processed into the pellets p in predetermined shape and size.
- the pellets p molded by the pelletizer 3 are supplied to the pellet cooling tank 4 through the seventh pipe (pellet discharging duct) 34b, and cooled to a predetermined temperature (for example, -20°C).
- the pellets p cooled by the pellet cooling tank 4 are depressurized by the depressurizing device 6 to a predetermined pressure (for example, a pressure slightly higher than the atmospheric pressure), and then stored in the pellet storage tank 5.
- the unreacted gas g' in the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is forced to return to the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through the first pipe 25a, the gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2, the second pipe 30a, the gas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3, the third pipe 34a, the gas phase part 4a of the pellet cooling tank 4, the fourth pipe 43a, and the circulation pipe 52.
- the gas phases within the gas phase part 2a of the dewatering tower 2, the gas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3, and the gas phase part 4a of the pellet cooling tank 4 have the same equilibrium composition as the gas phase (unreacted gas g') within the gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1. Accordingly, generation of an additional gas hydrate is suppressed in the downstream facilities such as the dewatering tower 2, the pelletizer 3, and the pellet cooling tank 4, or the first to the fourth pipes 25a, 30a, 34a, 43a. This suppresses operation troubles such as clogging and malfunction of the equipment.
Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates to a method for operating a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate by reaction between a mixed gas and water.
- Heretofore, the following procedure has been known. Specifically, natural gas and water are reacted with each other at a temperature higher than the ice point at a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure to form a natural gas hydrate without freezing water. The natural gas hydrate thus formed is physically dewatered. Then, the water content of the natural gas hydrate is reduced by reacting natural gas with the residual water content contained in the natural gas hydrate during the physical dewatering step or after the dewatering to generate a natural gas hydrate. The resultant is cooled to a temperature lower than the ice point, followed by depressurizing (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
- However, in a case where the gas phase at the physical dewatering means, a transferring section, or the like has a natural gas composition in this production system, an additional gas hydrate may be generated from heavy components (ethane, propane, butane, and the like) contained in the composition. This may result in an operation trouble such as transferring failure in some cases.
- To suppress occurrence of such an operation trouble, the gas phases in facilities downstream of the generation step have to be in an equilibrium state with hydrate and water, in other words, the gas phases have to have the same gas composition as that in the generation tank. As an invention analogous to this, for example,
Patent Document 2 is known. - However, this invention requires a large-scale auxiliary facility for adjustment of a mixed gas supplied to a generation tank by dilution with a main component of the mixed gas, that is, requires a large-scale auxiliary facility including the control system. Further, the adjustment to the equilibrium composition is difficult under the generation conditions, and there are still problems such as that a gas hydrate may be generated in the downstream facilities.
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- Patent Document 1: Japanese patent application Kokai publication No.
2003-105362 - Patent Document 2: Japanese patent application Kokai publication No.
2008-248190 - The present invention has been made to solve such problems. An object of the present invention is to simplify a plant without dilution facilities of a raw-material gas, and to provide a method for operating a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate, the method being capable of stabilizing the operation by making the gas phases within downstream steps have the same equilibrium composition as the gas phase of within a generation step.
- The present invention is characterized by including circulating a gas phase of a mixed-gas hydrate generation step to a gas phase within a downstream step located downstream of the mixed-gas hydrate generation step to thereby make the gas phase within each step have the same equilibrium composition as that of the gas phase within the generation step.
- The present invention is characterized in that the downstream step is a dewatering step.
- The present invention is characterized in that the downstream step includes a dewatering step, and a molding step, and a cooling step.
- In the present invention, the gas phase within the mixed-gas hydrate generation step is circulated to the gas phase within the downstream step located downstream of the mixed-gas hydrate generation step, and the gas phase within each step is thereby made to have the same equilibrium composition as that of the gas phase within the generation step. Accordingly, generation of an additional mixed-gas hydrate is suppressed in a physical dewatering facility and a transferring facility provided downstream of the generation step. This makes it possible in advance to eliminate likelihood of occurrence of operation troubles such as clogging and malfunction of equipment attributed to the generation of a mixed-gas hydrate. Moreover, a diluting facility for a raw-material gas as in conventional inventions is no longer necessary, and simplification of the plant is achieved.
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Fig. 1] Fig. 1 is a block diagram for illustrating a basic process of a method for operating a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate according to the present invention. - [
Fig. 2] Fig. 2 is a block diagram for illustrating a process for actual application of the method for operating a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate according to the present invention. - [
Fig. 3] Fig. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate according to the present invention. - Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described by use of the drawings.
- As shown in
Fig. 1 , a basic plant A for producing a mixed-gas hydrate according to the present invention includes a gas hydrate generation tank 1 and adewatering tower 2. Agas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with agas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2 through afirst pipe 25a. Thegas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2 communicates with thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through asecond pipe 30a, ablower 51, and acirculation pipe 52. - Meanwhile, a solid-
liquid part 1b of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with a solid-liquid part 2b of thedewatering tower 2 through afifth pipe 25b. The solid-liquid part 2b of thedewatering tower 2 communicates with a facility for the subsequent process through asixth pipe 30b. Moreover, the gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 and a raw-material-water supplying pipe 8, and also includes a stirrer (unillustrated) for stirring the solid-liquid phase. - Next, a method for operating the plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate will be described.
A mixed gas, for example, natural gas g, supplied into the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through the raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 is reacted with water w supplied through the raw-material-water supplying pipe 8 to thereby form a natural gas hydrate. The natural gas hydrate in the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is supplied to thedewatering tower 2 together with water w for dewatering. The dewatered natural gas hydrate h is drawn out to the facility for the subsequent process through thesixth pipe 30b. - Meanwhile, driving the
blower 51 forces an unreacted gas in thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 to circulate from thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through thefirst pipe 25a, thegas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2, thefourth pipe 30a, theblower 51, and thecirculation pipe 52 to thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1. - Thus, the gas phase within the
gas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2 has the same equilibrium composition as the gas phase (unreacted gas) within thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1. Accordingly, generation of an additional gas hydrate is suppressed in the downstream facilities such as thedewatering tower 2. This suppresses operation troubles such as clogging and malfunction of the equipment. - Note that the same effects can also be obtained by connecting the raw-material-
gas supplying pipe 7 and thecirculation pipe 52 together to mix the natural gas g supplied through the raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 with the unreacted gas circulated through thecirculation pipe 52. - As shown in
Fig. 2 , a plant A' for producing a mixed-gas hydrate according to the present invention includes a gas hydrate generation tank 1, adewatering tower 2, a pelletizer 3, and apellet cooling tank 4. Agas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with agas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2 through afirst pipe 25a. Thegas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2 communicates with agas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3 through asecond pipe 30a. Thegas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3 communicates with agas phase part 4a of thepellet cooling tank 4 through a third pipe 34a. Thegas phase part 4a of thepellet cooling tank 4 communicates with thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through afourth pipe 43a, ablower 51, and acirculation pipe 52. - Meanwhile, a solid-
liquid part 1b of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with a solid-liquid part 2b of thedewatering tower 2 through afifth pipe 25b. The solid-liquid part 2b of thedewatering tower 2 communicates with a solid-liquid part 3b of the pelletizer 3 through asixth pipe 30b. The solid-liquid part 3b of the pelletizer 3 communicates with a solid-liquid part 4b of thepellet cooling tank 4 through aseventh pipe 34b. The solid-liquid part 4b of thepellet cooling tank 4 communicates with a facility for the subsequent process through aneighth pipe 43b. - Moreover, the gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a raw-material-
gas supplying pipe 7 and a raw-material-water supplying pipe 8, and also includes a stirrer (unillustrated) for stirring the solid-liquid phase. - Next, a method for operating the plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate will be described.
A mixed gas, for example, natural gas g, supplied into the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through the raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 is reacted with water w supplied through the raw-material-water supplying pipe 8 to thereby form a natural gas hydrate. The natural gas hydrate in the gas hydrate generation tank is supplied to thedewatering tower 2 together with water w for dewatering. The dewatered natural gas hydrate is supplied to the pelletizer 3 through thesixth pipe 30b, and molded into pellets in predetermined shape and size. The pellets are supplied to thepellet cooling tank 4 through theseventh pipe 34b, and cooled to a predetermined temperature. The pellets thus cooled are drawn out to the facility for the subsequent process through theeighth pipe 43b. - Meanwhile, driving the
blower 51 forces an unreacted gas in thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 to circulate from thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through thefirst pipe 25a, thegas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2, thesecond pipe 30a, thegas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3, the third pipe 34a, thegas phase part 4a of thepellet cooling tank 4, thefourth pipe 43a, theblower 51, and thecirculation pipe 52 to thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1. - Thus, the gas phases within the
gas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2, thegas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3, and thegas phase part 4a of thepellet cooling tank 4 have the same equilibrium composition as the gas phase (unreacted gas) within thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1. Accordingly, generation of an additional gas hydrate is suppressed in the downstream facilities such as thedewatering tower 2, the pelletizer 3, and thepellet cooling tank 4. This suppresses operation troubles such as clogging and malfunction of the equipment. - Note that the same effects can also be obtained by connecting the raw-material-
gas supplying pipe 7 and thecirculation pipe 52 together to premix the natural gas g supplied through the raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 with the unreacted gas circulated through thecirculation pipe 52. - As shown in
Fig. 3 , a plant A" for producing a mixed-gas hydrate of the present invention includes a gas hydrate generation tank 1, adewatering tower 2, a pelletizer 3, apellet cooling tank 4, a pellet storage tank 5, and a depressurizing device 6. - The gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a
stirrer 12, and also includes a gas-jetting nozzle 13 below thestirrer 12. The gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 and a raw-material-water supplying pipe 8 at atop portion 11a thereof. The raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 includes a flow-amount adjusting valve 9, and the raw-material-water supplying pipe 8 includes avalve 10. - The gas hydrate generation tank 1 includes a gas-circulation path 14 through which the
top portion 11a communicates with the gas-jetting nozzle 13. An unreacted gas g' in agas phase part 1a is supplied to the gas-jetting nozzle 13 by afirst blower 15, and cooled to a predetermined temperature by afirst cooler 16. Thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with agas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2 through afirst pipe 25a. - Meanwhile, a
bottom portion 11b of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 communicates with abottom portion 21a of thedewatering tower 2 through a fifth pipe (slurry supplying pipe) 25b including aslurry pump 24. Aslurry circulation path 26 branched from theslurry supplying pipe 25b is connected to a side surface of the gas hydrate generation tank 1. Theslurry circulation path 26 includes asecond slurry pump 27 and asecond cooler 28, and cools a slurry s passing through theslurry circulation path 26. - The
dewatering tower 2 includes a verticalcylindrical tower body 21, a hollow drainage part 22 provided concentrically to and outside thetower body 21, and a screen 23 provided in the tower body portion facing the drainage part 22. The drainage part 22 communicates with theslurry circulation path 26 through adrainage pipe 29. Thedewatering tower 2 supplies a dewatered gas hydrate n to the pelletizer 3 through a sixth pipe (screw feeder) 30b. Moreover, thegas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2 and agas phase part 2a of the drainage part 22 communicate with agas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3 throughsecond pipes 30a. - The pelletizer 3 is a high-pressure pelletizer in which a pair of briquetting rolls 32, 32 are provided in a pressure-
tolerable container 31. The pelletizer 3 forms pellets p in a predetermined shape (for example, lens shape, almond shape, pillow shape, or the like) from a powdery gas hydrate. Moreover, thegas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3 communicates with agas phase part 4a of thepellet cooling tank 4 through a third pipe 34a. Further, a lower end portion of the pelletizer 3 is connected to an upper end portion of thepellet cooling tank 4 through a seventh pipe (pellet discharging duct) 34b. - The
pellet cooling tank 4 includes a hopper-shapedhollow container 41 and a coolingjacket 42 provided outside thehollow container 41. The coolingjacket 42 cools the pellets p in thehollow container 41. Moreover, thepellet cooling tank 4 is connected to thetop portion 11a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through afourth pipe 43a and acirculation pipe 52 including asecond blower 51. - The depressurizing device 6 is provided in a middle portion of an eighth pipe (duct) 43b through which a lower end portion of the
pellet cooling tank 4 communicates with an upper end portion of the pellet storage tank 5. The depressurizing device 6 includes an upper valve 62 on an upper portion of acylindrical container 61 and a lower valve 63 on a lower portion of thecylindrical container 61. - Next, a method for operating the plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate will be described.
First, water w in the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is cooled to a predetermined temperature (for example, 3°C) by driving thesecond slurry pump 27 and thesecond cooler 28 provided in theslurry circulation path 26. - Then, while a mixed gas, for example, natural gas g, at a predetermined pressure (for example, 5 MPa) is being supplied from the raw-material-
gas supplying pipe 7 to the gas hydrate generation tank 1, the unreacted gas g' in thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is supplied to the gas-jetting nozzle 13 by driving thefirst blower 15 and thefirst cooler 16 provided in the gas-circulation path 14. - The natural gas g supplied to the gas-jetting nozzle 13 is jetted as numerous fine bubbles into the water w, and then stirred with the
stirrer 12. Accordingly, the natural gas g and the water w are subjected to hydration reaction to form a natural gas hydrate. - The composition of the natural gas is: 86.88% of methane, 5.20% of ethane, 1.86% of propane, 0.42% of i-butane, 0.47% of n-butane, 0.15% of i-pentane, of 0.08% of n-pentane, 1% of carbon dioxide, and so forth. However, since the heavy parts such as ethane and propane are likely to react with water, the gas phase within the
gas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is rich in methane. - The natural gas hydrate with the water w forms a slurry s, which is supplied to the
bottom portion 21a of thedewatering tower 2 by theslurry pump 24. The gas hydrate n dewatered by thedewatering tower 2 is supplied to the pelletizer 3 from an upper portion of thedewatering tower 2 through the sixth pipe (screw feeder) 30b, and processed into the pellets p in predetermined shape and size. - The pellets p molded by the pelletizer 3 are supplied to the
pellet cooling tank 4 through the seventh pipe (pellet discharging duct) 34b, and cooled to a predetermined temperature (for example, -20°C). The pellets p cooled by thepellet cooling tank 4 are depressurized by the depressurizing device 6 to a predetermined pressure (for example, a pressure slightly higher than the atmospheric pressure), and then stored in the pellet storage tank 5. - Meanwhile, since the
second blower 51 is driven, the unreacted gas g' in thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 is forced to return to thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1 through thefirst pipe 25a, thegas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2, thesecond pipe 30a, thegas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3, the third pipe 34a, thegas phase part 4a of thepellet cooling tank 4, thefourth pipe 43a, and thecirculation pipe 52. - Thus, the gas phases within the
gas phase part 2a of thedewatering tower 2, thegas phase part 3a of the pelletizer 3, and thegas phase part 4a of thepellet cooling tank 4 have the same equilibrium composition as the gas phase (unreacted gas g') within thegas phase part 1a of the gas hydrate generation tank 1. Accordingly, generation of an additional gas hydrate is suppressed in the downstream facilities such as thedewatering tower 2, the pelletizer 3, and thepellet cooling tank 4, or the first to thefourth pipes - Note that the same effects can also be obtained by connecting the raw-material-
gas supplying pipe 7 and thecirculation pipe 52 together to premix the natural gas g supplied through the raw-material-gas supplying pipe 7 with the unreacted gas' returned through thecirculation pipe 52. -
- 1
- gas hydrate generation tank
- 2
- dewatering tower
- 3
- pelletizer
- 4
- pellet cooling tank
Claims (3)
- A method for operating a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate, characterized by comprising circulating a gas phase within a mixed-gas hydrate generation step to a gas phase within a downstream step located downstream of the mixed-gas hydrate generation step to thereby make the gas phase within each step have the same equilibrium composition as that of the gas phase within the generation step.
- The method for operating a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate according to claim 1, characterized in that the downstream step is a dewatering step.
- The method for operating a plant for producing a mixed-gas hydrate according to claim 1, characterized in that the downstream step includes a dewatering step, a molding step, and a cooling step.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP2009259469A JP5529504B2 (en) | 2009-11-13 | 2009-11-13 | Operation method of mixed gas hydrate production plant |
PCT/JP2010/069960 WO2011058980A1 (en) | 2009-11-13 | 2010-11-09 | Method for operating plant for producing mixed-gas hydrate |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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EP2500403A1 true EP2500403A1 (en) | 2012-09-19 |
EP2500403A4 EP2500403A4 (en) | 2013-04-17 |
Family
ID=43991638
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP10829939.7A Withdrawn EP2500403A4 (en) | 2009-11-13 | 2010-11-09 | Method for operating plant for producing mixed-gas hydrate |
Country Status (7)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US8921626B2 (en) |
EP (1) | EP2500403A4 (en) |
JP (1) | JP5529504B2 (en) |
AU (1) | AU2010319101A1 (en) |
BR (1) | BR112012010935A2 (en) |
MY (1) | MY162835A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2011058980A1 (en) |
Cited By (2)
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CN104437290A (en) * | 2014-11-24 | 2015-03-25 | 常州大学 | Compound gas hydrate generation accelerant and preparation method thereof |
WO2018141950A1 (en) * | 2017-02-03 | 2018-08-09 | Engie | Biomethane production facility and method for controlling such a facility |
Families Citing this family (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN103571557B (en) * | 2013-11-12 | 2014-12-24 | 北京化工大学 | Method for preparing natural gas hydrate |
CN105717271B (en) * | 2016-03-11 | 2018-01-16 | 西南石油大学 | A kind of ocean gas hydrate solid state fluidizing extracting experiment circuit system |
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2009
- 2009-11-13 JP JP2009259469A patent/JP5529504B2/en active Active
-
2010
- 2010-11-09 WO PCT/JP2010/069960 patent/WO2011058980A1/en active Application Filing
- 2010-11-09 EP EP10829939.7A patent/EP2500403A4/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2010-11-09 BR BR112012010935-9A patent/BR112012010935A2/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2010-11-09 MY MYPI2012001806A patent/MY162835A/en unknown
- 2010-11-09 US US13/509,229 patent/US8921626B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2010-11-09 AU AU2010319101A patent/AU2010319101A1/en not_active Abandoned
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US20040143145A1 (en) * | 2003-01-07 | 2004-07-22 | Servio Phillip D. | Formation of gas hydrates by fluidized bed granulation |
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Cited By (4)
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CN104437290A (en) * | 2014-11-24 | 2015-03-25 | 常州大学 | Compound gas hydrate generation accelerant and preparation method thereof |
CN104437290B (en) * | 2014-11-24 | 2017-01-11 | 常州大学 | Compound gas hydrate generation accelerant and preparation method thereof |
WO2018141950A1 (en) * | 2017-02-03 | 2018-08-09 | Engie | Biomethane production facility and method for controlling such a facility |
FR3062657A1 (en) * | 2017-02-03 | 2018-08-10 | Engie | BIO-METHANE PRODUCTION PLANT AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SUCH A PLANT |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP2500403A4 (en) | 2013-04-17 |
MY162835A (en) | 2017-07-31 |
JP5529504B2 (en) | 2014-06-25 |
BR112012010935A2 (en) | 2020-12-29 |
US20120232318A1 (en) | 2012-09-13 |
AU2010319101A1 (en) | 2012-05-10 |
US8921626B2 (en) | 2014-12-30 |
JP2011105794A (en) | 2011-06-02 |
WO2011058980A1 (en) | 2011-05-19 |
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